Toni Grenz is a 10th grader from Germany and she is ready to start preparing for Christmas. She says that she is getting in the Christmas spirit in the middle of November and starts decorating the first weekend of December. 

“I love Christmas movies. My favorite ones are obviously the classic Christmas films, like the Grinch,” Grenz said, “but we have this one Polish movie that I watch with my family every year.”

“I love Christmas, I love the mood, the preparation and the snow in Germany and just spending time with family,” Grenz said. “I like to ski and of course skate.”

Grenz has a certain opinion of people who celebrate Christmas early.

“I love Christmas,” Grenz said, “but I don’t like when people start too early because then I get sick of it before it’s even Christmas.”

Dealyn Lee is a junior (11) and this is her second year at Darlington. Lee is from Korea and has different traditions back home. Lee starts to get into the Christmas spirit right after Halloween. 

“I put up the Christmas tree about three weeks before Christmas,” Lee says. 

Lee’s Christmas traditions back home are different from many other countries.

“Christmas in Korea is a big thing depending on how religious you are,” Lee said. “We do have Christmas trees and all the same decorations as in many other countries.”

In Korea, Christmas isn’t usually a traditional holiday.

“We spend Christmas with friends,” Lee said, “so it’s not always a family celebration, like in America.”

Terar Everhart from Rome, Georgia is the administrative assistant at Darlington school. She starts to celebrate for Christmas very early.

“Most of the time right after Thanksgiving,” Everhart said, “so the Friday after this break is usually when I get into the Christmas period.”

Christmas holds a special place in Everhart’s heart.

“Christmas is one of my favorite holidays besides Independence Day,” Everhart said. “One because this is such a sweet time of the year. I love the music, Christmas music is my favorite, and just what it represents. Christmas represents for some of us Jesus and his birth, and honestly, that makes Christmas kind of intimate, and just a loving holiday.”

Everhart, like many others, listens to different Christmas songs during the holidays.

“My favorite Christmas song,” Everhart said, “is ‘This Christmas’ by Chris Brown.

Everhart begins decorating for Christmas as soon as she can.

“Right after Thanksgiving,” Everhard said. “I really wanted to do it yesterday but I thought it was a little bit too early.”

Bianca Gilardi comes from Spain and this is her first year at Darlington as a 10th grader. It is one of her favorite holidays to spend with family and friends. Bianca says that she goes into the Christmas mood at the beginning of December.

“More or less when December starts, and in the middle of December I start to do the Christmas decorations,” Gilardi said. “I think that this is really different from here in America because the people here already start to think about Christmas and talk about it.”

She doesn’t listen to a lot of Christmas songs. 

“Christmas songs are not my favorite music,” Gilardi said, “but when I put my decorations with family and my best friend then it is okay, but not too much.”

She also thinks that Christmas in Madrid is really beautiful.

“I love Christmas and all the holidays. I live in Madrid and celebrate Christmas there,” Gilardi said. “I think that is one of the most beautiful things that you can do. There is a really good marketplace, where me and my friends spend the most of the time, eating Christmas specialities.”